A Memory and A Mystery: Local Authors Petula Caesar and Sujata Massey

Published: June 21, 2018, 3 p.m.

As she grew up, Petula Caesar's African-American father praised her good grades … and her light skin. He raised her to be deferential to white people … and to see blacks as dangerous.Then, Sujata Massey’s newest novel is “The Widows of Malabar Hill” … set almost a century ago in what is now Mumbai, India. Her heroine--whose traditional ethnic last name is just one syllable shy of “mystery”--is a pioneering lawyer … who comes upon murder, kidnapping … and a secret passageway … as she investigates a suspicious will.